1ST METROPOLITAN LOCKSMITHS LIMITED
💤Zombieactive
02602617 · ltd · incorporated 1991-04-18
Investment thesis
Zombie company — trading but stalled; unlikely mover.
Why interesting: Quiet, steady; could be a succession or carve-out candidate with the right conversation.
Why risky: No growth signal; thin margin for error on price.
🔒Estimated value
—
Upgrade to see
Turnover
—
year to Apr 2025
Net worth
£274.6k
book net assets
Opportunity
80/100
Exceptional
What this business does
Primary activity: Security systems service activities
Sector: Administrative & support services
Investor take
PursueAsset-holding vehicle with a 70-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.
Opportunity 80/100 (exceptional), bankability 75/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 70). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Broaden director team. Sole director creates succession risk and reduces buyer comfort. Appoint a second director or strong #2. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (73/100).
Data confidence
Overall: medium (76/100)Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.
Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
Confirmed no charges registered
85
Directors & officers
5 officers (2 active, 5 linked, 2 with DOB)
78
Ownership & PSC
1 active PSC(s) of 1 total, 1 with control declared
90
Director network
Network not yet resolved
30
Filing history
87 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
80/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional
Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.
Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
90
Good data coverage for analysis.
Signals from accounts
Derived from iXBRL accounts · accounting standard not declaredPositive net assets
Net assets £274,602
Key financials
2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accountsCash
—
Net Worth
£275k
~ YoY
Current Assets
£419k
↑ 11% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series
Financials
Extracted from Companies House accounts · accounting standard unknown| Metric | 2025-04-30 | 2024-04-30 |
|---|---|---|
| Total assets | £274.6k | £272.4k |
| Current assets | £419.2k | £379.0k |
| Net assets | £274.6k | £272.4k |
Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.
Recent activity
Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
0
filings
Last 180 days
1
filing
- • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (25 events)Click to expand
- 2026-01-26📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2025-01-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-04-25📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2024-01-27📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2023-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2023-04-27📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2022-12-24📄gazette-filings-brought-up-to-dategazette · DISS40
- 2022-10-08📄dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspendeddissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
- 2022-09-27📄gazette-notice-compulsorygazette · GAZ1
- 2022-04-28📄change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2022-01-29📄change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortenedaccounts · AA01
- 2021-06-13📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2020-02-04📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2019-12-23📄change-to-a-person-with-significant-controlpersons-with-significant-control · PSC04
- 2019-01-31📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2018-01-30📄accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entityaccounts · AA
- 2016-01-01➕VON COSSEL, Alvo appointedsecretary
- 2016-01-01➖VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice resignedsecretary
- 2011-05-01➖VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice resigneddirector
- 2004-08-01➕VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice appointeddirector
- 1991-04-18🏢Company incorporatedAs 1ST METROPOLITAN LOCKSMITHS LIMITED
- 1991-04-18➕VON COSSEL, Christian appointeddirector
- 1991-04-18➕VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice appointedsecretary
- 1991-04-18➕SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED appointedcorporate-nominee-secretary
- 1991-04-18➖SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary
Owner dependency
100/100
Critical — business is the founderThe business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.
FACTORS
- +Sole director: Only one active director — all governance concentrated on one person.
- +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 35 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
- +Founder age: Director aged approximately 70 — succession pressure is live.
Succession & seller-readiness
100/100
Likely off-market candidateStrong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.
SIGNALS
- primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 70 years old. Natural succession window is now.
- primarySole active director: Only one director in control. No visible successor — buyers solve the succession problem.
- primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 35 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
- secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 35 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
- supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.
Red flags
cleanNo red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)
Shareholders & ownership
1 active beneficial owner · dominant holder ≥75%| Name | Shares | Voting rights | Nature of control | Notified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mr. Christian Von Cossel Individual · German · DOB 05/1956 · age 70 | 75–100% | — | 75-100% shares | 06/04/2016 |
From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST MOBILE LIMITED→ 16959468 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1ST NORTH LIMITED→ 15575875 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 1ST POINT FIRE SECURITY LTD→ 15396313 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 1ST POWER LIMITED→ 15863650 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST SERVICES LIMITED→ 14689851 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 3y | — | — |
| 1ST SILVER LIMITED→ 16055226 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST WEST LIMITED→ 15700311 · est 2024 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 1y | — | — |
| 1ST WORLD SERVICES LIMITED→ 17081466 · est 2026 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1ST. CONSULTANCY LIMITED→ 14818879 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 1ST. CRAFT LIMITED→ 14842435 · est 2023 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 2y | — | — |
| 20 NELSON ROAD RTM COMPANY LIMITED→ 08044910 · est 2012 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 13y | — | — |
| 20/20 SHARP VISION LIMITED→ 10931942 · est 2017 · no financials extracted | — | — | — | — | 8y | — | — |
Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions
8 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →🔒Advanced scoring suite
Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.
Available from the Pro tier upwards.
See pricing →Company details
Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated1991-04-18
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC80200 — Security systems service activities
Registered office
Unit 7 2 Somerset Road
London
N17 9EJ
United Kingdom
Filing status
Accounts
Next due: 2027-01-27
Last made up to: 2025-04-30
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-12-09
Last: 2025-11-25
Officers (2 active · 3 resigned)
Active
VON COSSEL, Christian→
Activedirector · ~70y · appointed 1991-04-18
View their other companies + combined net worth →
VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice→
Resignedsecretary · appointed 1991-04-18 · resigned 2016-01-01
SWIFT INCORPORATIONS LIMITED→
Resignedcorporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 1991-04-18 · resigned 1991-04-18
VON COSSEL, Bettina Beatrice→
Resigneddirector · ~67y · appointed 2004-08-01 · resigned 2011-05-01
Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.
Recent filings (87 total)
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2026-01-26
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-11-26
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2025-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-12-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2024-04-25
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2024-01-27
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-12-29
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
accounts-with-accounts-type-micro-entity
accounts · AA
2023-04-27
gazette-filings-brought-up-to-date
gazette · DISS40
2022-12-24
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-12-23
dissolved-compulsory-strike-off-suspended
dissolution · DISS16(SOAS)
2022-10-08
gazette-notice-compulsory
gazette · GAZ1
2022-09-27
change-account-reference-date-company-current-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-04-28
change-account-reference-date-company-previous-shortened
accounts · AA01
2022-01-29